Improving Clinical Wait Times in a Veterans Affairs' Urologic Setting.

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Prolonged clinic wait times in urology negatively impact treatment delivery and patient satisfaction among veterans.
• Delays in urologic procedures, including potential surgeries, stem from extended wait times, affecting veteran care outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To decrease overall procedural wait times within an outpatient urology clinic.
• To implement and evaluate a Fast-Track procedural clinic model for enhanced efficiency.

Main Methods:

• A Fast-Track procedural clinic was established using lean methodology principles for veterans undergoing bladder or prostate cancer surveillance.
• Patient satisfaction was assessed using the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Survey (OAS CAHPS).
• Wait times were statistically analyzed using SPSS software to measure the impact of the Fast-Track clinic.

Main Results:

• The Fast-Track clinic reduced average wait times from 131 to 75 minutes within 8 weeks, a 43% improvement.
• Patient-reported understanding of instructions improved slightly (55% to 59%), while receipt of written discharge instructions saw a significant increase (18% to 68%).
• The initiative demonstrated a measurable reduction in procedural wait times and associated delays.

Conclusions:

• The introduction of a Fast-Track procedural clinic effectively minimized wait times in the urology clinic.
• This quality improvement project led to reduced procedural delays and improved patient care experiences for veterans.
• Further research into strategies like block scheduling is recommended for optimizing clinic wait times across specialties.